SPLIT, May 25 (Hina) - The seven states participating in the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative wrapped a two-day conference in Split on Friday by adopting a declaration proposing the adjustment of visa requirements and calling on a joint
battle against crime.
SPLIT, May 25 (Hina) - The seven states participating in the
Adriatic-Ionian Initiative wrapped a two-day conference in Split
on Friday by adopting a declaration proposing the adjustment of
visa requirements and calling on a joint battle against crime.#L#
The Split declaration fortifies regional cooperation and the
integration of the seven countries into European structures on the
Mediterranean, Croatia's Foreign and Greece's Deputy Foreign
Minister Tonino Picukla and Grigoris Niotis told a news conference
in the southern Adriatic city.
The declaration calls on Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia,
Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy, and Slovenia to intensify cooperation
in combating all forms of crime, money-laundering, and
international terrorism. The seven governments will be urged to
expedite the adjustment of visa requirements.
Last year Croatia and Slovenia insisted on making Bosnia start
preventing illegal migrations which begin in Iran and Iraq and,
almost undisturbed, cross Sarajevo towards Croatia and the
European Union. After Bosnia introduced visas for Iranians, the
number of illegals from Iran caught in Croatia last year dropped
from 8,800 to 380.
The Split conference produced three ecology projects: joint action
in major disasters at sea, monitoring the Adriatic, the north
especially, for pollution coming from Italy's Po river, and
managing river basins on the Adriatic.
Croatia's Picula said a decision was made to establish an Adriatic-
Ionian Initiative coordinating council, probably to be based in
Split. For him the most important part of the conference were the
business deals struck by the leaders of 60 big companies from the
Initiative's states and Croatian businessmen.
The Split conference marked the end of Croatia's six-month
presidency of the Initiative, which was established in Ancona,
Italy last year to promote cooperation in the economy, culture and
ecology in view of reaching the standards in the most developed
states along the Mediterranean.
(hina) ha